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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 27, 2018 15:06:14 GMT -5
There's never been any real, concerted ever to make it popular/grow a fanbase. At most groups will throw a team in a market and just expect fans to show up/watch.
Here in Little Rock, we had no less than two minor league teams come through. The games I attended were pretty fun for what they were, but they were very 'arena football-ish' in that they'd do little shit like the tshirt gun whatever after every stoppage of play. So the games themselves were only part of the novelty.
Couple that with, generally you're not going to grow up playing it as a kid down here; either outside or at school. So there's no real sense of love for the sport from a really young age.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 27, 2018 15:08:19 GMT -5
Same reason beach valleyball is less popular outside of places with beaches. It's hard to really get into a sport you don't grow up playing,for people who grow up in places like the southwest,deep south,hawaii, west coast etc you don't get outdoor hockey weather. And the cost for indoor hockey in those places is not economically viable for most people even if their was actual interest for a kid to play See, I don't really agree with that. It took forever for soccer to catch on in this country, and little league-HS soccer is among the most played sports in the country. MMA hit a huge boom the last 15 years and most people don't even take an intro karate or boxing class. I do think there is something to the lack of emotional connection to teams. In Boston or Detroit or NY, chances are your grandpa loves the Bruins or the Wings or the Rangers, your dad loves em, you grew up with them and you like 'em and you occasionally go to games or have some of their merch. Not everyone, but I think that rings true to a lot of fanbases. Soccer doesn't really require much in the way of equipment or upkeep though. Get a ball and something to serve as a net, and you're good as far as playing it as a kid. That doesn't apply to hockey at all.
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Post by Hurbster on Jan 27, 2018 15:18:39 GMT -5
Three quarters instead of four. No cheerleaders. Complicated rules. Boring to watch. Compared to what ? Gridiron ? Baseball ?
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Post by sfvega on Jan 27, 2018 18:05:40 GMT -5
See, I don't really agree with that. It took forever for soccer to catch on in this country, and little league-HS soccer is among the most played sports in the country. MMA hit a huge boom the last 15 years and most people don't even take an intro karate or boxing class. I do think there is something to the lack of emotional connection to teams. In Boston or Detroit or NY, chances are your grandpa loves the Bruins or the Wings or the Rangers, your dad loves em, you grew up with them and you like 'em and you occasionally go to games or have some of their merch. Not everyone, but I think that rings true to a lot of fanbases. Soccer doesn't really require much in the way of equipment or upkeep though. Get a ball and something to serve as a net, and you're good as far as playing it as a kid. That doesn't apply to hockey at all. That's part of the point, though. That it took nothing to play, so anyone and everyone played it when they were younger and not that many cared to follow it professionally here. I don't think there's much of a correlation between what people play when they're younger and what people watch. Plenty more people played soccer than football in the US, but for years the NFL was king and soccer wasn't even in the Big 4. Even now, you could make the argument that the NHL is more popular than the large majority of televised or attended soccer in the US. I think what it boils down to is the entertainment value moreso than one's peewee or HS experience. You don't have to have experience to enjoy an NFL game, which is why it is popular. I love hockey, but I think people in general don't have an appreciation for the sport for whatever reason. I live in a baseball town and they would much rather watch a baseball game than a hockey game, which is kinda crazy to me. The game is faster, there's hits, there's dustups and fights all the time. But since it's on ice, people don't care. But when the benches clear at a baseball game or basketball game and both teams just look at each other, people are like "Oh shit!" I can't really wrap my head around it.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 27, 2018 18:11:18 GMT -5
well that's what I'm sayin though: if you can't afford the equipment as a kid, you're not goin to be able to play it, ergo not build that appreciation.
You WILL have experienced playing baseball and football on some level, even if it's just in the backyard.
I'd rather watch baseball than hockey too.
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Post by sfvega on Jan 27, 2018 18:23:00 GMT -5
well that's what I'm sayin though: if you can't afford the equipment as a kid, you're not goin to be able to play it, ergo not build that appreciation. You WILL have experienced playing baseball and football on some level, even if it's just in the backyard. I'd rather watch baseball than hockey too. Appreciation for it from an entertainment standpoint. Like people go apeshit over big NFL hits and NBA "fights", but when they see them on ice, they don't care. It's not like I'm expecting them to have an appreciation for clean line changes or defensive rotations. But when there's a "fight" in the NBA, everyone's eyes in the bar are on the TV. When there's an actual fight in the NHL, people are less inclined to watch. That's insanity to me.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jan 27, 2018 18:25:24 GMT -5
Well generally though, every hockey fight looks exactly the same.
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Post by The Barber on Jan 27, 2018 20:09:45 GMT -5
Three quarters instead of four. No cheerleaders. Complicated rules. Boring to watch. Compared to what ? Gridiron ? Baseball ? Football.
Football and baseball can be played on dirt. Hockey can't.
BTW, NASCAR is popular down here and I don't know why.
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Post by sfvega on Jan 27, 2018 20:41:37 GMT -5
Well generally though, every hockey fight looks exactly the same. Every fight in any sport looks exactly the same. In football, guys have a wrestling match and then throw a handful of punches at a helmet (which is very similar to a hockey fight, btw). In basketball, it's 100% posturing and no fighting. In baseball, it's a bunch of missed haymakers and 39 peacemakers holding the only 2 really angry guys back. I kinda appreciate baseball fights in that the more guys get on the field, the more things calm down. Very gentlemanly. But if you want to see an actual fight, the NHL has the market corner. The only fight that really stands out in any sport is the Malace at the Palace, because it was a quasi-riot.
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